Locking band for sausage products



Oct. 13, 1964 H. RUMSEY, JR

LOCKING BAND FOR SAUSAGE PRODUCTS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 8, 1963 Oct. 13, 155 4 LOCKING BAND FOR SAUSAGE PRODUCTS 1 Filed Feb. 8, 1963 2 Sheets-She et 2 /7 INVENTOR. Mszsaer 04165 )fJr:

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UMsEY, JR 3,152,745 r United States Patent 3,152,745 LUCKENG BAND FOR SAUSAGE PRGDUCTS Herbert Ramsey, .lr., Rochester, N.Y., assignor to Tobin Packing (10., End, Rochester, N.Y., a corporation oi Delaware Filed Feb. 8, 1963, Ser. No. 257,225 Claims. (Cl. 229-87) This invention relates to an improved locking band and package for sausage products. The application is a continuation-in-part of my application Serial Number 148,405, filed October 30, 1961, now abandoned, for Package for Sausage Products and Method of Making the Same.

Sausage products such as frankfurts are frequently displayed and sold in pre-packaged form. The form of package most generally employed consists of a cardboard band encircling two parallel superimposed rows of sausage products and having an encasing layer of transparent wrapping material. Attempts have also been made to provide satisfactory packages with a platform or band interposed between the two superimposedrows of sausage products.

Packages of the type heretofore employed present a number of difficulties and disadvantages. Thus, excessive time and labor is expended in assembling the locking band around the product and in checkweighing the product. The checkweighing and correction of the weight of the packages generally takes place after banding of the products and to correct the weight it is necessary to unlock and open the band and to replace one or more of the sausage products with heavier or lighter products as the case may be.

' The packaging procedure heretofore used also presented difficulties with respect to the appearance of the package. The band is inclined to bow or fiex outwardly and interfere with the tight encasing and shrinking of the outer wrapper resulting in undesirable and unattractive wrinkles in the wrapping material. Also the sausage products in the upper layer or row tend to nest in the recesses between the products in the lower row instead of being in directly superimposed relationship thereby destroying or preventing a truly rectangular relationship in the package. Moreover, the locking bands heretofore employed have generally been inadequate and flimsy and have not given sufficient support to the assembled product with the result that the packages readily lose their rectangular shape and become disarranged. In addition, display advertising and instructional material are frequently printed on the outer wrapper and this display material cannot generally be made to register with the band, with the result that the variable ofiset relationship between the printed material and the band which is displayed through the wrapper distracts from the appearance of the package.

Furthermore, the packages heretofore used are inconvenient for the consumer in that upon opening the package there is no provision for holding the unused sausage products in an assembled or semi-packaged relationship.

It is a prime object of the present invention to overcome the difiiculties and disadvantages heretofore encountered and to provide an improved package for sausage band displayed through or near the printed matter; and

which is convenient for the ultimate consumer touse in that it iseasy toopen and can serve to retain the unused sausage products in assembled relationship.

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A further object is the provision of an improved locking band for use in the high speed packaging of sausage products which may be readily assembled around the sausage products and is provided with overlapping flaps having readily interengageable locking means.

In accomplishing the several objects of my invention, I contemplate the provision of an improved locking band for a package for sausage products in which the lower layer of sausage products is encircled by a band having upwardly projecting resilient flanges adjacent the side edges thereof which serve as yielding gripping members to hold the upper layer of sausage products in position during the checkweighing and wrapping operations and also serve to help retain the sausage products in directly superimposed position and the package in rectangular relationship. The band is provided with overlapping flaps with readily interengageable locking means to facilitate the assembly of the band. In addition, the band is also preferably made of a material having suiiicient rigidity so as not to deflect downwardly into the recesses between adjacent sausage products in the lower row under the weight or" the products in the upper row.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a complete package embodying my invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective veiw of a partially open package indicating the manner in which the outer wrapper serves to retain the unused sausage products in assembled relationship and showing in dotted lines a knife being inserted to open the package;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the inside of the wrapping band in flat unfolded condition and indicating the lower row of sausage products assembled thereon;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view showing the band encircling the lower row of sausage products and ready to receive the upper layer thereon;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the locking band assem bled around the lowermost row of sausage products and illustrating the manner in which the locking means may be readily interengaged with each other;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view in the direction of the arrows on the line 6-6 of FIG. 4 with the upper layer of sausage products applied thereto and illustrating the manner in which the gripping flanges retain the upper layer of sausage products in position; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view in the direc' tion of the arrows on the line 77 of FIG. 1 with portions omitted showing the completed package.

My improved package comprises generally a plurality of sausage products ill arranged in a lower row and an upper row superimposed on the lower row, a band 12 encircling the sausage products in the lower row and a wrapper 14- formed of transparent flexible sheet material tightly encasing the assembled sausage products and band.

this type are frequently packaged in groups of-lO in two superimposed rows of five each, and I have illustrated the sausage products as arranged in this fashion. The sausage products in each row are in parallel contacting relationship and the products in the upper row are preferably directly superimposed over the products in the lower row.

row of sausage products, an upper flap or panel 16 for forming the upper flight of the band and of suficient width to support the upper row of sausage products and a locking panel 23 of shorter length than the panel 16. The base is connected by fold lines to two side panels 17 and 18 of sufficient width to accommodate the height of the lower row when the band is assembled. The side panels are, in turn, connected by fold lines to the flaps l6 and 23. The blank is also formed with a pair of cutout portions 19 and 2d which define a pair of resilient flanges 21 and 22 which project upwardly at the sides of the band when the band is assembled. The flanges Zll and 22 are formed integral with the side walls 17 and 18 and the fold lines defining the upper edges of the side walls do not extend through the flanges 21 and 22. These flanges 21 and 22 serve as gripping members when the band is assembled for engaging the sides of the outer sausage products in the upper row to resiliently retain them in place on top of the upper panel.

Flap 16 is formed with an angular slit 24 providing a locking tab 25 which can be inserted through the cutout portion 26 in locking flap 23 to retain the band in assembled position as indicated'most clearly in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6. In this connection, slit or cut-out portion 24- is so arranged that the connected end of tab 25 is dis- 7 posed adjacent the free end of flap 16 and extends towards of sausage products, flap 16 can be folded along the fold lines 32 to cause tab 25 to project outwardly from the plane of the flap so that it may readily be engaged with cut-out portion 20 in looking flap 23.

It will be seen that in the completed package the lower row of sausage products it} is encircled by the locking band 12 and the upper row of sausage products rests on top of the upper panel 16 of the locking band with the resilient flanges 21 and 22 engaging the end sausage products in the upper row and serving as gripping members resiliently retaining the upper row in position. The entire assembly of sausage products and locking band are tightly encased in the sheet of wrapping material 14.

In making my improved package, I first provide a plurality of sausage products, such as frankfurts, and arrange a predetermined number of them in a row on the panel 15 of the locking band 12. The panel 15 should be of a size to conveniently accommodate the predetermined number of sausage products. As indicated, one popular type of package for sausage pro-ducts contains two superimposed rows of five products each, and accordingly the panel 15 in the illustrated embodiment has been made of a size to snugly accommodate five sausage products.

The side panels 17 and 18 are of a size to accommodate the transverse height of the sausage product. When the side panels 17 and 18 are folded upwardly and the locking panel 23 folded inwardly with the upper panel 16 in overlapping relationship and with the locking tab 25 engaged in the cut-out portion 20, the locking band will snugly accommodate the lower row of sausageproducts and retain them in assembled relationship. Due to the provision of the fold lines 32 in flap 16, locking tab 25 may be readily interengaged with opening 2d as shown in FIG. 5. v p

The locking band is preferably made of a: flexible material having sufficient rigidity to support the upper'row of sausage products when the band is supported on centers spaced at distance approximately equal to the diameter of the sausage products without deflection so as to prevent the sausage products in the upper row from nestfactorily, although I may also employ various plastic materials which are inert to and unaffected by the sausage products such as the polymers and copolymers of vinylchloride or polyethylene having the indicated rigidity.

To impart additional gripping action to the flanges 21 and 22, I preferably make the lower panel 15 of slightly greater length than the upper panel 16 so that side walls 17 and 18 and flanges 21 and 22 slant inwardly at a slight angle as indicated most clearly in FIGS. 6 and 7. Additional stiffness or rigidity may be imparted to the flanges 21 and 22, by terminating the'cut-out portions 19 and 20 a slight distance above the fold line defining the upper edges of side walls 1'7 and Has shown most clearly in FIG. 3. Thus, when the blank is assembled, the small connecting hinge portions indicated at 27 serve to deflect the flange portions further inwardly and to resist outward shifting or bending thereof. In addition, the relationship of the locking tab 25, the free end of panel 16 and the cut-out portion 20 of locking panel 23 are such that when the band is assembled the free end of panel 16 abuts against flange 22, as shown most clearly in FIGS. 6 and 7 lending additional support thereto.

Rigidity in a transverse direction may be imparted to the flanges 21 and 22 by forming transverse outwardly embossed channels 30 therein. The channels 36 project outwardly on the outer surface of the flanges and also serve as gripping portions so that in making the package the operator may grip the semi-formed package by the two flanges beneath the outwardly embossed channels.

After the lower row of sausage products has been encircled by the locking band in the manner described, the upper 'row of sausage products is arranged in contacting parallel relationship on top of the upper panel 16 of the locking band between the two gripping members or flanges 21 and 22. The same predetermined number of sausage products are arranged in the upper row and the flanges resiliently engage/the outer surface of the two end sausage products to resiliently retain the entire row of sausage products in assembled relationship as shown most clearly in FIG. 6.

After the sausage products and locking band have been assembled in this fashion, the assembly is then checkweighed. If the assembly is underweight, one or more sausage products from the upper row can be readily removed and replaced by sausage products of greater weight so as to make the proper weight. Conversely, if the assembly is overweight, one or more sausage products from the upper row may be readily removed and replaced by sausage products of lesser weight in order to make the proper weight. It will be seen that this can be conveniently accomplished without opening the band and simply by removing the sausage products which are reshrinks when subjected to an elevated temperature lower than its melting point and in which contacting surfaces will seal together when subjected to heat and pressure. For this purpose, I may employ a sheet of tensilized polyvinylidene chloride or copolymers thereof, tensilized rubber hydrochloride or tensilized polyethylene.

A sheet of sufficient size is employed to extend completely around the package in all directions with the edges in overlapping relationship' The sheet is tightly extended completely across the top and sides of the package and the edges may be brought together and overlapped at the undersurface of the package as shown wherethe overlapping edges are heat-sealed together as by pressing them against a hot plate maintained at a temperature at the fusing point of the sheet material. Thereafter, the sheet wrapping material is preferably shrunk around the package by subjecting it to an elevated temperature lower than the fusing point of the material, preferably between 180 and 212". This may be accomplished by immersing the package in hot water at the indicated temperature, by applying hot water to the surface in the form of a spray or by rollers or by subjecting the package to heated air. After the wrapping material has been shrunk in this fashion, the package presents an attractive appearance with the contents clearly displayed through the upper surface thereof and with the wrapping material tightly stretched over the upper portion of the package and being substantially free from Wrinkles. The sausage products are maintained in proper relationship inside the package with the products superimposed directly one above the other and with the package in rectangular relationship. In addition, the outer wrapping not only presents an attractive appearance but also serves to preserve the contents from contamination.

The package may be conveniently opened by inserting a knife through the upper wrapper inside one of the resilient flanges 21 or 22 as indicated in dotted lines in FIG. 2. After the outer Wrapping has been severed in this fashion, it may be drawn inwardly suificiently to permit the desired number of sausage products to be removed from the upper row. Any remaining sausage products are retained in proper relationship by the locking band and by the outer wrapping material which can be pulled tightly in place around the package.

It will thus be seenthat I have provided an improved package for sausage products and an improved locking band for use in such packages in which the package can be conveniently and economically produced, in which the locking band may be readily and conveniently assembled around the sausage products, in which the finished product presents an improved and attractive appearance and which is convenient for the ultimate consumer to use.

Modifications may be made in the illustrated and described embodiments of my invention without departing from the invention as set forth in the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. A blank for a split locking band for a package of super-imposed rows of sausage products comprising: an elongated rectangular blank made of flexible paperboard of sufficient rigidity to support a sausage product between two centers of the approximate diameter of the sausage product without substantial deflection, said blank being formed with a rectangular base panel extending for the entire width of the blank and of sufficient length to serve as a supporting base for the lowermost row of sausage products with the products arranged in parallel relationship transversely of the blank, first and second side panels extending for the entire width of the blank and connected to respectively opposite ends of the base panel by fold lines so that they can be folded at right angles to the base panel to form the sides of the band, a locking flap of substantially shorter length than the base panel connected to the first side panel by a fold line so that it may be folded into parallel relationship with the base panel to partially overlap the upper surface of the lowermost layer of sausage products and a rectangular top flap extending for the entire width of the blank and connected to the second side panel by a fold line so that it may be folded into parallel relationship with the base panel and being of a length sufficient to overlap the entire lower row of sausage products as well as the locking flap and to extend to a point adjacent the upper portion of the first side panel, said flaps being formed with complementary fastening means to retain them in overlapping relationship and with cut-out portions extending into said flaps from the central portion of the side pane-ls so as to provide side flanges directly connected to the central portion of the side panels and free from hinged fold lines adjacent the connecting portions so that when the side panels are folded substantially at right angles to the base panel the flanges project upwardly in the plane thereof to resiliently engage the sides of the outermost sausage products in an upper layer superimposed on the top flap to releaseably retain said row in place, the major portion of the length of each of said base panel and said top flap being in the form of a continuous unbroken sheet so as to impart firmness and support to the locking band when assembled.

2. A blank for a split locking band for a package of superimposed rows of sausage products as set forth in claim 1 in which the complementary fastening means comprises an opening in one of the flaps and a locking tab formed in the other flap by a cut-out portion arranged so that the tab has a connected end facing towards the free end of the flap and a free end facing towards the hinged end of the flap with the said tab being free from fold lines and with the flap having fold lines extending from opposite sides of the connected end of the tab to the side edges of the flap whereby the flap may be folded along said fold lines to cause said tab to project outwardly from the plane of the flap to facilitate its interengagement with the opening in the other flap.

3. A blank for a split locking band for a package of superimposed rows of sausage products as set fonth in claim 1 in which the base panel is of slightly greater length than said top flap so that when the band is assembled the side flanges are disposed at an inwardly inclined angle.

4. A blank for a split locking band for a package of superimposed rows of sausage products as set forth in claim 1 in which the cut-out portions in the locking flap and top flap terminate a short distance from the fold lines connecting the said flaps to the side panels so that when the band is assembled the interconnection portions of the blank between the said fold lines and the side flanges impart additional support to the said flanges to resist outward bending thereof.

5. A blank for a split locking band for a package of superimposed rows of sausage products as set forth in claim 1 in which the distance between the complementary fastening means and the free end of the top flap is slightly greater than the distance between the said complementary fastening means and the hinged end of the locking flap so that when the locking band is assembled the free end the locking flap to provide additional support thereto.

References Cited in the file of this patent 

1. A BLANK FOR A SPLIT LOCKING BAND FOR A PACKAGE OF SUPER-IMPOSED ROWS OF SAUSAGE PRODUCTS COMPRISING: AN ELONGATED RECTANGULAR BLANK MADE OF FLEXIBLE PAPERBOARD OF SUFFICIENT RIGIDITY TO SUPPORT A SAUSAGE PRODUCT BETWEEN TWO CENTERS OF THE APPROXIMATE DIAMETER OF THE SAUSAGE PRODUCT WITHOUT SUBSTANTIAL DEFLECTION, SAID BLANK BEING FORMED WITH A RECTANGULAR BASE PANEL EXTENDING FOR THE ENTIRE WIDTH OF THE BLANK AND OF SUFFICIENT LENGTH TO SERVE AS A SUPPORTING BASE FOR THE LOWERMOST ROW OF SAUSAGE PRODUCTS WITH THE PRODUCTS ARRANGED IN PARALLEL RELATIONSHIP TRANSVERSELY OF THE BLANK, FIRST AND SECOND SIDE PANELS EXTENDING FOR THE ENTIRE WIDTH OF THE BLANK AND CONNECTED TO RESPECTIVELY OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE BASE PANEL BY FOLD LINES SO THAT THEY CAN BE FOLDED AT RIGHT ANGLES TO THE BASE PANEL TO FORM THE SIDES OF THE BAND, A LOCKING FLAP OF SUBSTANTIALLY SHORTER LENGTH THAN THE BASE PANEL CONNECTED TO THE FIRST SIDE PANEL BY A FOLD LINE SO THAT IT MAY BE FOLDED INTO PARALLEL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE BASE PANEL TO PARTIALLY OVERLAP THE UPPER SURFACE OF THE LOWERMOST LAYER OF SAUSAGE PRODUCTS AND A RECTANGULAR TOP FLAP EXTENDING FOR THE ENTIRE WIDTH OF THE BLANK AND CONNECTED TO THE SECOND SIDE PANEL BY A FOLD LINE SO THAT IT MAY BE FOLDED INTO PARALLEL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE BASE PANEL AND BEING OF A LENGTH SUFFICIENT TO OVERLAP THE ENTIRE LOWER ROW OF SAUSAGE PRODUCTS AS WELL AS THE LOCKING FLAP AND TO EXTEND TO A POINT ADJACENT THE UPPER PORTION OF THE FIRST SIDE PANEL, SAID FLAPS BEING FORMED WITH COMPLEMENTARY FASTENING MEANS TO RETAIN THEM IN OVERLAPPING RELATIONSHIP AND WITH CUT-OUT PORTIONS EXTENDING INTO SAID FLAPS FROM THE CENTRAL PORTION OF THE SIDE PANELS SO AS TO PROVIDE SIDE FLANGES DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO THE CENTRAL PORTION OF THE SIDE PANELS AND FREE FROM HINGED FOLD LINES ADJACENT THE CONNECTING PORTIONS SO THAT WHEN THE SIDE PANELS ARE FOLDED SUBSTANTIALLY AT RIGHT ANGLES TO THE BASE PANEL THE FLANGES PROJECT UPWARDLY IN THE PLANE THEREOF TO RESILIENTLY ENGAGE THE SIDES OF THE OUTERMOST SAUSAGE PRODUCTS IN AN UPPER LAYER SUPERIMPOSED ON THE TOP FLAP TO RELEASEABLY RETAIN SAID ROW IN PLACE, THE MAJOR PORTION OF THE LENGTH OF EACH OF SAID BASE PANEL AND SAID TOP FLAP BEING IN THE FORM OF A CONTINUOUS UNBROKEN SHEET SO AS TO IMPART FIRMNESS AND SUPPORT TO THE LOCKING BAND WHEN ASSEMBLED. 